World record prices paid for rare Rolexes

June 16, 2003byJCK Magazine

Red-hot bidding for two rare Rolex prototype Daytona wristwatches set world record prices at the June 14 “Important Watches, Collector’s Wristwatches, & Clock” sale in Geneva, Switzerland, held by Antiquorum, a leading watch auctioneer. The total sale value for all lots sold was $8.26 million.

The extremely rare Rolex Oyster Cosmograph ‘Daytona’ gentleman’s wristwatches-also known to collectors as ‘Paul Newman’ Rolexes-sold for $317,283 and $338,258, respectively. Both were produced in 1979. This was the first time they had been put up for auction.

World record prices were also paid for a very rare, self-winding, yellow 18K Patek Philippe gentleman’s watch with perpetual calendar ($304,699) and a “Montre Geographique by Callier, Horologer de l’Observatoire, Fournisseur de la Marine de l’Etat, Paris,” dated 1887, a rare 18k, keyless, double-face 24-hour world time watch ($32,033).

Other sale stars included ‘The Sacred Mountain’, an extremely complicated musical and automaton clock made by prestigious London watchmaker, James Cox in 1780 ($1.1 million). It was sold to the Musée de l’Horologie de Genève, which already had its matching half.

Bids for the auction came from around the world via mail, telephone, Internet and from the auction floor.